Foodie Fortnight Recipe

Foodie Fortnight Recipe

Foodie Fortnight Recipe

25/10/2017Claire James

As part of our Foodie Fortnight, we went on the hunt for a food blogger who would help us with a recipe for those of you hosting an event to try; we couldn’t be more excited to share this fabulous recipe with you

We’d like to thank food blogger, The Cliché Guevara @MaxwellJbrant for this amazing recipe for our Foodie Fortnight; we’re really lucky to have him on board and cannot wait to have a go at making this great recipe that is also very seasonal given its Halloween next week too! Although, it’s probably too good for the trick or treaters to have!

Here is Max’s – Sri Lankan Pumpkin curry with poppy seed Roti.

NB – You can also use squash or sweet potatoes in this recipe, I have gone for Pumpkin because you know, Halloween and all that. Also the leftover seeds can be roasted in a little oil and sea salt for about 30 mins on 150 then scattered over the top of the dish for extra flavour and texture.

I have made my own spice blend to layer the flavours, a little aniseed from the fennel and star anise, warmth from the Cumin and heat from the chilli. Put together they are pretty banging! Using the ground rice and coconut acts as a thickening agent for the sauce and gives it a great consistency coating the pumpkin and making it extra rich and creamy. The Roti are a flatbread that are real easy to make in a pan. I’ve thrown a few spices and poppy seeds in for good measure, also they are an awesome edible cutlery for scooping out bits of pumpkin because forks are overrated!

Ingredients –

For the curry powder –

3 tsp Cumin seeds

2tsp Coriander seeds

1 tsp Fennel seeds

1 tsp Mustard seeds

1 tsp Black peppercorns

1 tsp Chilli powder

For the sauce –

75g white rice/75g dried coconut both toasted in the oven for 15 minutes and ground fine in a blender.

2 medium onions-sliced

3 cloves garlic – chopped

1 kilo pumpkin – Diced 1 inch cubes

1 red chilli – Finely chopped

2 tins Coconut Milk

1 cinnamon stick

3 star anise

50g fresh coriander

Salt

Olive or vegetable oil

For the Roti –

100g self raising flour

200g wholemeal flour

5g Salt

10g cumin seeds

10g poppy seeds

1tsp olive oil

Method –

Combine all ingredients in a mixing bowl, knead the dough until smooth. Roll out into equal sized balls (about 6). Roll each ball with a rolling pin into 1/2 cm flat rounds. Rub each one with olive oil and then fry, one by one in a skillet or griddle pan for 1 minute either side until crisp. Set aside until later.

Toast the seeds and peppercorns in a dry pan to release the flavours. Smash them up in a pestle and mortar. Add the chilli powder and set aside.

Fry the onions, garlic and chilli in a little oil until soft and starting to brown, add the diced Pumpkin and season with salt.

Add the spice mix and continue to cook on a low heat for about 5 minutes. This is a key stage, you want those spices to properly infuse with your pumpkin for the maximum of flavour. Add the water and cover, cook for a further 5 minutes until the Pumpkin starts to soften.

Add the coconut milk, star anise and cinnamon, simmer for a further 5 minutes before adding the rice and dried coconut blend. The sauce should thicken immediately, summer for a few minutes, check the pumpkin is cooked, check the seasoning and remove from the heat.

Throw some roughly chopped fresh coriander the mix and serve immediately onto some steamed basmati rice. Top with a few thin slices of fresh chilli if you need that extra heat kick.

There you have it. Get your bread in there and enjoy!

The finished dish 🙂

If you’re a fan of Max’s work, why not stay up to date with his latest creations by following his blog